Communications among web servers, desktop personal computers (PCs), and handheld devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) continues to proliferate. Users desire to share data content among all such devices. Currently, users can download data content from a web server to their PCs and PDAs through an established network connection. When a user synchronizes data between a PDA and a web server, typically a connection is established between the PDA, a cradle for the PDA, the PC connected to the cradle, and the web server coupled to the PC. The order of these connections, and the means by which the data is exchanged during data synchronization are determined by the specific application. However, with most conventional applications, the user is seldom provided with many details related to the data synchronization and the data transferred. Typically, some form of general information is displayed on the PC to inform the user, such as the number of files downloaded. In this case, the PC merely acts as a data transport tool between the web server and the PDA.
Further, PCs and PDAs include different device specifications. For example, the PC includes more memory and greater processing power than the PDA, yet the PDA is easier to carry and more convenient. Due to these different characteristics, some content data types are more suitable for the PC rather than the PDA, while other content data types are more suitable for the PDA.